Analysis of Improvisations: Light And Snow: 07

Conrad Potter Aiken 1889 (Savannah, Georgia) – 1973 (Savannah, Georgia)



The day opens with the brown light of snowfall
And past the window snowflakes fall and fall.
I sit in my chair all day and work and work
Measuring words against each other.
I open the piano and play a tune
But find it does not say what I feel,
I grow tired of measuring words against each other,
I grow tired of these four walls,
And I think of you, who write me that you have just had a daughter
And named her after your first sweetheart,
And you, who break your heart, far away,
In the confusion and savagery of a long war,
And you who, worn by the bitterness of winter,
Will soon go south.
The snowflakes fall almost straight in the brown light
Past my window,
And a sparrow finds refuge on my window-ledge.
This alone comes to me out of the world outside
As I measure word with word.


Scheme ABCDEFDGDHIJDKLMNOP
Poetic Form
Metre 01101011110 010101101 11011110101 100101110 11000100101 111111111 11101100101110 11101111 0111111111111010 01010111 011111101 0001001001011 011110100110 1111 011110011 1110 001011011101 101111110111 1110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 777
Words 156
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 19
Lines Amount 19
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 616
Words per stanza (avg) 154
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

46 sec read
97

Conrad Potter Aiken

Conrad Potter Aiken was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author born in Savannah Georgia whose work includes poetry short stories novels and an autobiography more…

All Conrad Potter Aiken poems | Conrad Potter Aiken Books

0 fans

Discuss this Conrad Potter Aiken poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Improvisations: Light And Snow: 07" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 15 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7010/improvisations%3A-light-and-snow%3A-07>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    May 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    16
    days
    8
    hours
    58
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    The opposite of poetry is _______.
    A Prose
    B Verse
    C Literalism
    D Somnolence